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After just a cursory assessment, the osteopath had asked Laurent to lie down on his side, then applied forceful downward pressure to his pelvis, rotating it and his lumbar spine at its most vulnerable link (L5-S1), where Laurent already had a herniated disc.

This created further instability at a joint that was already unstable. The resulting micro-movements irritated his sciatic nerve root, provoking his sciatica.

In the months that followed, Laurent was beginning to get back to normal after working with a physiotherapist. However, his sciatic symptoms resurfaced when the physiotherapist gave him an exercise called a 'prone scorpion' as part of his rehab program. This involved the twisting of his pelvis away from his ribcage: the exact same movement that the osteopath had subjected him to, triggering his sciatica again.

This doesn't mean that 'prone scorpions' are inherently a bad exercise. It means they were a poor choice of exercise for Laurent. He had been given a generic low back pain exercise for what had been diagnosed as the generic condition of 'non-specific low back pain’. 

However, as world-renowned low back pain expert, Professor Stuart McGill famously says: 'There is no such thing as non-specific back pain. There is always a cause. In nearly all cases, the pain is relieved or worsened by specific motions, postures, and loads. The key is to identify these patterns through a thorough assessment and address them with precision.’

Laurent had had the misfortune of seeing two practitioners who hadn't assessed him adequately, and as a result had made his back pain worse.

The McGill Method low back pain assessment that I carried out on Laurent took around 3 hours to complete. This was necessary to be able to identify the precise causes of his pain which, in turn, meant I could show him how to avoid provoking it. This included giving him a safe training program that he could do without triggering his pain.

After working with him for 6 months, Laurent became totally pain-free and was back doing Crossfit again (he was still training pain-free when I checked in with him again another 12 months later).

Now that he understands the cause of his back pain he has a much better chance of avoiding it in the future. This was only possible because he underwent a thorough biomechanical assessment.

Laurent's testimonial:

'After over a year of having a back injury and consulting several specialists, I found Andy on Stuart McGill's website. After a very complete assessment I began a rehab program with him. I quickly became able to do movements that I hadn't been able to do previously and my pain gradually faded until it disappeared completely. This was despite me having had some extremely painful episodes! I admit I'd been beginning to lose hope about whether I would ever find a solution.

For those familiar with fitness training: I went from writhing in pain while sneezing to being able to swing a 32 kg kettlebell without pain! I built up to this in a progressive, safe and effective way. If you want to put an end to your back problems or get back into fitness in a sustainable way, I recommend you contact Andy!'

—Laurent Feraudet

Andy Marlow is the only McGill Method certified personal trainer in the UAE. www.theback.coach